Maine-Endwell and Elmira Notre Dame both have boys lacrosse programs that are surging as the regular season starts to wind down. The final surge Thursday night when the teams met belonged to the Spartans.

Gabe Thompson capped a comeback from an early 5-0 hole with a tiebreaking score in front of the net with 11 seconds left off a perfect feed from Tyler Leniek to give the Spartans a 10-9 victory at Notre Dame's Brewer Memorial Stadium.

Maine-Endwell improved to 7-7 and clinched a berth in the Section 4 Class C tournament. The Crusaders fell to 7-3 in what has been one of the best seasons in team history.

Gabe Thompson, left, of Maine-Endwell tries to control the ball off a faceoff against Elmira Notre Dame on May 2, 2019 at Notre Dame. Also pictured are Notre Dame's Stephen Schmidt (14) and Owen Spring, and M-E's Kevin Vicari.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Comeback completed

The Spartans' 5-0 hole wasn't nearly as daunting when they got to within 5-3 by the time the first quarter ended. Notre Dame was able to respond to lead 7-4 at the half and 8-5 until M-E scored the final two goals of the third quarter.

A defensive stop set up Thompson's winning goal, which followed the second Maine-Endwell timeout of the possession.

M-E head coach Andy Ewing said his team simply settled down and knocked off the rust from the bus ride. The energy level also rose noticeably.

"We came off the bus a little flat. I don’t know what they expected, but we told them they were coming here to play a pretty good team," Ewing said. "I’d seen a little film and they looked pretty good. The No. 1 kid for them (Owen Spring) is very good. They had some good seniors there that were announced at the beginning of the game.

"They kept plugging along and it took us awhile to settle in, but once we did it was better obviously than it was. Then it was back and forth and luckily we came out in the end."

Stopped late

The Crusaders scored more goals in the first nine minutes of the game than they did the rest of the night. Part of that was credit to M-E for getting going, with a sloppy turnover allowing Spring to score into an open net for the Crusaders' fifth goal.

Notre Dame still led 9-8 on a blast from Stephen Schmidt with 9:31 left before Curtis Robitaille notched the tying goal four minutes later.

"Definitely competitive," Notre Dame head coach Geoff Crossley said of the game. "The boys worked their hearts out. We practiced all week, we watched film, we just really tried to put everything together and obviously at the beginning of the game we did. Just ran out of some gas at the end."

Scoring standouts

Thompson finished with three goals to pace M-E. Leniek, Tyler Cunningham and Robitaille had two goals apiece, while Thomas Guilfoyle led with three assists. Brendan Tennant (1 goal, 2 assists) also factored into three goals.

Spring had three goals and an assist for END and Nick Viselli contributed two goals and three assists. Jake Baker also scored twice.

Turning the season around

The Spartans were staring at a 2-5 record at one point before turning things in the right direction. A recent overtime win against an Elmira team that handed M-E a 13-4 loss reflected how far the Spartans have come.

"That was a big turnaround for us," Ewing said of beating the Express.

"It’s just the kids buying into what we’re trying to do I think. The first half of the year they were a little iffy about what we were trying to get them to do. Now a little more confident in our scheme of what we’re trying to do every game."

Elmira Notre Dame head coach Geoff Crossley talks to his team during a timeout against Maine-Endwell on May 2, 2019 at Notre Dame.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Resurgent Crusaders

Notre Dame hadn't made the Section 4 playoffs in 10 years until last season, falling in postseason play to eventual state semifinalist Chenango Forks. Seniors Greg Rouleau, Peter Czank, Ethan Dunham and Baker were singled out by Geoff Crossley for their contributions. Viselli, a junior, and Spring, a sophomore, have also been keys.

Spring had a week to remember earlier this season, scoring 17 goals and dishing out 13 assists in three Crusaders victories.

"They’re putting the work in," Crossley said. "They’re listening, they’re coachable kids. They’re good kids, they’ve worked hard. Some of them have been playing since they were in seventh grade and now they’re seniors. Last year we finished 8-8 and this year obviously we’re 7-3. Hopefully we can finish off next week at 10-3 going into the playoffs."

Section 4 lacrosse power

Thursday was a strong day of boys lacrosse in Section 4. In addition to this thriller, Corning held on for a 9-8 victory against Chenango Forks, while Horseheads continued its strong season with a 15-10 home win against Ithaca to improve to 10-3.